Kerry to visit S.Korea this week

SEOUL, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will visit South Korea this week ahead of the annual joint military exercises between the two allies.

Seoul's Foreign Ministry said Monday that Kerry will stay in Seoul for two days from Thursday to discuss diverse issues with his South Korean counterpart Yun Byung-se, including the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)'s nuclear program.

The top U.S. diplomat will pay a courtesy call to President Park Geun-hye during his first trip to Seoul in around 10 months.

Kerry will also visit China, Indonesia and the United Arab Emirates during his fifth Asian tour.

Kerry agreed with Yun to deepen consultations on the DPRK issue during their fourth meeting in Washington on Jan. 7.

Since then, U.S. Undersecretary of State William Burns visited Seoul on Jan. 21, before assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Russel's travel to South Korea on Jan. 26.

Glyn Davies, U.S. special envoy for the DPRK policy, visited Seoul on Jan. 29, urging Pyongyang to change stance on denuclearization.

Kerry's visit comes ahead of the joint military drills between Seoul and Washington. Seoul's Defense Ministry said Monday that the Key Resolve and Foal Eagle war games will be held from Feb. 24 to April 18.

The Defense Ministry said in its annual policy report to President Park that it will apply a new "Tailored Deterrence Strategy" to the upcoming joint military exercises to enhance deterrence capabilities against the DPRK's nuclear weapons.

The strategy outlined tailored deterrence against three possible scenarios of the DPRK's nuclear threats, including threatening, impending usage and usage of nuclear weapons, by mobilizing both diplomatic and military tools.